CAIRO – The official Libyan news agency says six ministers have resigned after accusing the government of taking sides in escalating battles among rival militias.

LANA, quoting TV network al-Nabaa, on Wednesday said the ministers of industry, labor, planning, education and water resources, and the state minister for the affairs of the wounded, have submitted their resignation. It quoted Industry Minister Suleiman al-Taif as saying the government was taking sides in the conflict, with the prime minister acting "without their knowledge."

The North African country has been convulsed by fighting between mainly Islamist militias and their opponents, including a renegade general who is battling Islamic extremists in the east. Interim Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni's government is considered hostile to the Islamists.